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Word Processing Guru

[FONT=Courier][SIZE=7] I have some general questions about typing in word processing? E.g., inserting accented letters [French, German, etc.]. When I use the Character Map, even though set on same font as document, the foreign characters are not the same type size as in the document [they print out smaller]. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Any help is gratefully accepted. Also, in help file it says that one can click and drag the character into the document. I've never been able to do this, however. This is a big issue for me because I am generally having to type in foreign languages.

Foreign characters can be accessed by clicking "Insert" in the menu and then clicking "Symbols" - that is the case with Word XP and I believe Word 2000, and I'm pretty sure it is similar in newer and older versions.

I've never heard that you can click and drag a foreign character into a Word document, but I know that it is possible to copy and paste to accomplish that.

[SIZE=7]Thanks Phantasmagoria. I didn't know about Insert, then click Symbols. I'll give it a try. What I did before was to go to the Help button in my Word Processing program and asked how to insert foreign characters, and that is where it said that one could click and drag from the Character Map. I tried it, but it didn't work. I did do the cut and paste. However, in the document I was working on, the font size came out smaller than what I was using for the document. I.e., I was typing in 14 pt and the inserted accented e was in about a 10 or a 12 pt. I never could figure out how to get it inserted in the proper pt size. I even printed out the page, thinking it might be correct after printing, but it printed out the smaller size. Also, on my old computer--Windows 98, which WP program I really liked because it was so much easier--one could type the foreign characters via the keyboard. Ctrl colon, for instance, created an umlaut, etc., etc., etc. Do you know if this capability still exists on XP? If so, where do I find which keys to use to access the foreign characters? Believe it or not, I have an "instruction manual" for XP that is about 2" thick--it just doesn't address much of the stuff I seem to need. Frustrating. FYI, I have the Word Processing program that came with the machine, also something different, I think, in Microsoft Works, as well as WordPad, which is too simple for what I need. I have recently installed Microsoft Office on a trial for 60 days, but I don't think I will pay to have it permanently. Well, I have gone on a bit, haven't I? It's just so good to talk to someone who seems to have things under control. Again, Thanks.

When you copy and paste text from any source, it doesn't copy just the text. It will copy any formatting along with it - ie font size, font color, font face, etc. You have to manually set those values to go along with the rest of your document. I believe that is where your problem is originating.

I don't believe Word has any features that allow you to type foreign characters via the keyboard in the manner that you have stated. You may, however, hold Alt and type in the ASCII value of a character (Alt + 065 will produce a capital A, Alt + 097 will produce a lowercase a, etc), but that requires you to know the ASCII value. I recommend using the Insert->Symbols method because it's quite easy. Only problem is time, being that it takes awhile to constantly go up into the menu to write out foreign words.

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Posted 12 May 2005 - 10:34 PM

In case you might want to use the ASCII values, here are some that I
use all the time, when not typing completely in another language.
One does become fairly adept at using this system after a while.
You must have your number lock key set and use the number from the pad.
These will not work on most keyboards using the number row above the
letters keys.

As noted above - hold the "Alt" key and using the key pad type the four digits.
(One does not type the + sign)

I THINK, but cannot immediate verify, that you can do similar things with the (free) OpenOffice.org office suite word processor. OpenOfficeOrg is a very good office suite, completely free, and its files are MS Office compatible. A new version should be released very soon, most likely before you trial of MS ends.Regards,John